ETSU (6-2-1, 0-1-0 A-Sun) traveled to Nashville for its conference opener on Friday against Belmont, but could not come away with the result in a, 3-1, loss. The Bruins took advantage of a red card issued to Alesi Osorio (Austin, Texas) in the 48th minute, using the man up to the likes of three second half goals. The card came when Osorio fouled a Bruin defender in Belmont’s box that the referee deemed too flagrant.

The loss was ETSU’s first in an A-Sun opener since 2008, when it dropped the conference opener to North Florida, 2-1, in double overtime.

A bright spot for the Buccaneers on Friday was the play of senior Aaron Schoenfeld (Knoxville, Tenn.) The captain caused many problems for the Bruin defense through the first half, taking five shots and scoring his team-leading fourth goal of the season in a half which ETSU dominated, 11-3, in shots.

The Bucs now look to get back on track with their first home contest of the conference season, and will need their defense to keep Lipscomb off the scoreboard. In ETSU’s six wins and one draw, it has allowed just 0.29 goals per game, while the Bucs have fallen apart defensively in their two losses, giving up an average of 3.5 goals per contest.

Six of the seven goals scored against ETSU in its two losses have come in the second half, as redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Coulter (Dublin, Ireland) has fallen victim to those scores. The reigning A-Sun Defensive Player of the Week has recorded six shutouts with the help of a 0.22 goals against average through the first half of matches this year. The second half has not been as friendly to the Irish native, as Coulter’s GAA reads 0.77 through the second frame.

Lipscomb (1-8-2, 0-1-0 A-Sun) is also searching for its first A-Sun victory, as the Bisons dropped their conference opener to USC Upstate on Friday. The Spartans scored twice in the first half before Lipscomb responded with Andrew Chamberlain’s first goal of the season in the 67th minute. The game remained that way until Upstate sealed the win via a goal by Hakeem King with six minutes remaining.

The Bisons’ attack is led by Garret Pettis, who has scored three goals to tally six points, leading the team in both categories. Nick Bibb trails Pettis by one for the team lead in goals, with both of Bibb’s scores coming through a two-minute span in the second half against SIU Edwardsville.

The Bucs lead the all-time series over Lipscomb 4-1-0, with ETSU’s only loss coming on October 10, 2008 in the first meeting between the two squads. Since then, the Bucs have defeated Lipscomb four-straight times, including twice in the A-Sun tournament.

One of those tournament meetings came in last year’s A-Sun semifinals, when Theo Yang (Lilburn, Ga.) scored with seven seconds remaining in double overtime, sending ETSU to the conference final.

The Bucs will be without Osorio, Frank Doumbe (Silver Spring, Md.) and David Geno (Kingsport, Tenn.) on Sunday afternoon, as all three were red carded against Belmont on Friday and will have to sit out a game.

ETSU has won 15-consecutive games against unranked opponents at Summers-Taylor Stadium, beginning the streak against Lipscomb back on October 30, 2009.

Live stats will be available for Sunday afternoon’s contest courtesy of ETSUBucs.com, and live video will be provided courtesy of ASun.TV.

For more information on ETSU men’s soccer please visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s soccer links. Fans can also follow the ETSU men’s soccer team by viewing its Facebook page.